Mandel Fellowship Institute                                                                     August 7, 2002

Nesse Godin                                                                                                          4:00-5:00 pm

 

Survivor Testimony

 

 

 

Name: Nesse Galperin
Date of Birth: March 28, 1928
Place of Birth: Siauliai, Lithuania

Nesse was born to a Jewish family in the Lithuanian city of Siauliai, not far from the Latvian border. Her parents owned a business that sold dairy products. A vibrant Jewish community thrived in Siauliai, with many synagogues, newspapers and clubs. The Jews called the city Shavli.

1933-39: I attended Hebrew school. My family was religious. I was brought up in a loving family that stressed the values of community and caring. After the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, we heard from relatives there that the Jews were being treated horribly. We couldn't believe it; how could your neighbors not stand up and help you?

1940-44: I was 12 when the Soviets annexed Lithuania in June 1940. The Germans occupied our city a year later on June 26, 1941, and began killing the Jews. Some Jewish citizens "persuaded" the Germans, with the aid of a large sum of money, that the remaining Jews were valuable for work. The Germans set up two ghettos. In 1944 as the Soviets advanced, we were deported to Stutthof, a camp on the Baltic coast. On a work detail I sorted a pile of shoes that prisoners said belonged to dead inmates. I wondered if I knew any of them.

While on a death march, Nesse was liberated by the Soviet army, on March 10, 1945. She emigrated to the United States in 1950.

 

http://www.ushmm.org/museum/publicprograms/programs/firstperson/godin.htm

 

 

Lithuania:  tiny democracy

bulletPlayed with non-Jewish children
bulletBusiness with non-Jewish businesses
bulletEvidence of antisemitism
bulletNot graffiti – “hate signs!”
bullet“When I see a swastika, I knew someone wants to kill me”

 Lithuanians welcoming Germans, June 26, 1941 Credit: Lithuanian Photographic and Video Archives, Vilnius http://www.ushmm.org/kovno/invade/ani2.htm

bulletJune ’41:  Lithuania fell in 3 weeks
bulletFamily hid in bomb shelter
bulletEinsatzgruppen units volunteered
bullet1000 men in city jail with promise of relocation
bulletTaken to forest, undressed, dug grave, shot
bulletSurrounding farmers witnessed this
bullet“The earth of the grave moved more many days”
bulletThe Holocaust became real to her
bulletAll kinds of loss in the next few days
bulletLoss of business, school, right to walk on sidewalk
bulletYellow Star of David on front and back of garment
bullet“What is a Jew?”
bulletCombination of perpetrators, collaborators, bystanders.
bulletWear the star, stay alive
bulletJudenrat represented town of 10,000
bulletHow to save the people?
bulletWent to diocese for help
bulletPriests were afraid to get involved
bulletJudenrat gathered $$ from people and bribed Germans to let townspeople be slaves
bulletGhetto formed with 10,000 inmates
bulletOne gate
bulletNo belongings
bulletCertificate of ID
bulletNesse denied admission to ghetto because she was too young for labor
bulletMom bribed a Lithuanian secretary (a girl of only 17) to get Nesse papers
bulletLithuanian secretary saved Nesse’s life
bulletNesse wasn’t on the roles
bulletNo food rations
bulletOther families brought in elderly and other children
bulletOn one night, 3500 Jews who didn’t get admitted to ghetto were killed
bulletRemembers hunger and fear
bulletOne extra bite of bread could bring immense gratitude

November 5, 1943:  1 day – Nesse was 15

bulletJob outside of ghetto
bulletMom had bribed someone to get Nesse papers to pass
bulletWorked with Lithuanian people
bulletSome were very kind
bulletTrucks outside of ghetto
bulletNo work that day
bulletReturned to room she shared with 9 other people
bulletMom dressed her in heavy clothes, but bread in her pockets
bulletTrucks = deportation
bulletMistake?  -- go to work anyway…
bulletOn the way home from work she heard cries from the ghetto
bulletSS, Gestapo, and Ukranians had run through the ghetto and found all children and pregnant women
bulletSelection at the gate
bullet500 children aged 1-14 years, hundreds of elderly selected (kinderselektion)
bulletDeported in trucks to Auschwitz (found out later – no processing, just gassed)
bulletFather taken that day
bulletKind man killed because evil was allowed to happen (bystanders)
bulletGhetto was quiet

1944:  German army retreating

bulletRest of ghetto deported on trains
bullet100 people with bundles on train
bulletWent to Stutthof concentration camp in the northernmost part of Poland

http://www.ushmm.org/topics/       From the Holocaust Learning Center

bulletSelection
bulletAt age 16, separated from brothers and mother
bulletLarge room, ordered to strip
bulletBeaten, chased, trying to cover nakedness
bulletShower room
bulletWalked in, walked out
bulletOutside medical exam
bulletExternal and internal
bulletLooking for hidden gold
bulletPeople with gold caps had them pulled on site
bullet1 pair underpants, 1 dress, 1 pair of shoes
bullet54,015 prison number – painted on clothes, not tattooed
bullet“Why was I a prisoner?”
bulletappel every morning
bulletSelection
bulletLady gave advice to get to a labor camp
bulletNesse used her instructions to leave with 5000 other women
bulletLabor camp
bulletTents with bundle of straw
bulletFood:  piece of bread/brown water for breakfast
bulletCoffee/soup (broth) for supper

January ’45:  death march into Germany

bulletMany humans on side of road, face-down with bullet in the head

February ’45:  pushed into large barn

bullet700 women?
bullet50 women ordered outside to dig latrine and a grave
bulletEach morning those who had died were piled into graves
bulletPrayer carried Nesse through
bulletCame a point when she prayed to die
bullet“Why do you pray to die? – It’s what the Nazis want, to not have to waste a bullet” 
bullet“Survive, and preserve our memories”

March 10, 1045:  Russians found camp

bulletThey weren’t “liberators” – they passed through the camps in the act of war
bullet200 women left
bulletNesse weighed 69 pounds

We have not learned enough

·       Hatred, indifference still exist